Cover Art
Added 2024-10-03 19:36:43 +0000 UTCHello folks!
For those who (understandably) may not have wanted to delve into the depths of my brain in that massive Musings post, the short and skinny of this poll is that I'm looking to potentially begin producing eBook and Audiobooks of the series. This won't effect any of the production and release on the Patreon, it will just be edited and curated versions to reach a new audience.
Part of that process, however, is developing a visual brand; what will my titles and covers look like?
Right now my 'visual brand' is the Avatar and Banner I commissioned from the artist Mr Toon (aka @TheDarkCartoon) with the sort of classic pin-up comic motif. I like it, but it's very different from what the Erotica/Romance market generally uses as their covers. These covers could also potentially end up in print.
Question: IF you were looking for an eBook/Audiobook, would the Classic Pinup style art help or hinder your perspective on buying a story?
(Edit for Clarity - Just to make sure I'm being clear, a lot of the current 'industry standard' is AI Generated pinup models for Erotica/Romance for Men. I don't support this practice and would likely hire a graphic artist/artist to do something different, I just don't know what it would be yet.
Comments
If I lean towards something more 'Edited Photo,' I would likely be hiring a graphic designer with good samples and a track record with Cover design and working with them, so no worries on that front. It would be SUPER cool if I could actually get a model who matches up with story characters, but that's gonna be cost-prohibitive for the foreseeable future. Thanks for the notes!
BreaktheBar
2024-10-06 05:09:03 +0000 UTCLook I have a bias towards pinup or boudoir style photos, although I have and still photograph many different styles/subjects over the last several years this has been the main style. all that said there are probably a few things to consider, first the model should represent the women in the story, second a straight photograph might be less professional for this use. You would probably be better served with a photo that has been edited to look more like an artists painting/drawing. An easily searchable example would be the artistic work of Robert Alvarado as to the type of editing. Another consideration is the setting of the photograph should also 'represent' some theme/main setting to the story when possible. Marketing to men it is good to remember we are visually influenced people. All this boils down to it might get a little expensive with matching the looks of the model (hair color/style, body type, tattoos). I am not a fan of the AI style photos for these projects but it is easy enough to see why they are used when you consider all these factors. An artists rendering may be a better choice but I believe the edited photos show a life that drawings just can't always show.
Mcapphoto
2024-10-05 08:33:15 +0000 UTCI personally love the classic pinup but it depends which side of erotica u are shooting for the harem stuff almost always has lazy soft core a.i porn as thr covers and they are eye catching
SovietDegendays
2024-10-05 06:00:30 +0000 UTCFemale narrators make up for it imo
SovietDegendays
2024-10-05 05:59:31 +0000 UTCI also like the art style and I think it would stand out and perhaps get readers browsing a "catalog" of samey looking books to pause, so I voted that it would attract readers but I was really torn. I know I've sometimes stopped to look at a book because of the art then rolled my eyes and moved on after reading the summary because the art was like a clickbait headline: eye catching but not at all representative of the story inside. From my perspective I think going "pinup" is definitely a good call, it leans on the heritage of tease, anticipation, and "naughty but kinda wholesome" (which I think suits your style of story telling and characters); but I don't know if cartoon/comic strip is the right "tone" for selling your stories outside of Patreon (for which it's well suited).
Grayghost
2024-10-04 17:35:09 +0000 UTCTotally fair. The audiobooks are definitely for reaching a new audience and a bonus for everyone else. I'm much more of a Reader too.
BreaktheBar
2024-10-04 16:17:51 +0000 UTCIf it was a traditional book I would put it on the spine that way when it is in a book shelf you can see and know the author. So yes keep it somewhere as a link point for us old readers.
Dale
2024-10-04 09:53:24 +0000 UTCAlthough Amazon accepts (begrudgingly) that books available in the Kindle store (there is an exclusivity clause for titles sold by the Kindle unlimited store) can be sold in other platforms, it's way more restrictive with Audible audiobooks. It's forbidden to share an audiobook to your Patreons (I belong to another Patreon and the owner of that campaign had a bit of a scare regarding that matter). If I was in your shoes I will avoid opening that can of worms. It's not worth the headaches. (First message here BTW, I joined on October 1). Happy to be here.
lostone2
2024-10-04 08:37:40 +0000 UTCThis may just be me, but I like reading my smut rather than listening to it. I don't want an intermediary between what I'm imagining and what I'm reading. I'm sure there's a market for it, but personally I just love reading it.
Matt
2024-10-04 05:56:31 +0000 UTCI don't think different attracts readers. Standing out draws attention, sure, but that doesn't mean it's good. We always judge books by their covers, and as some of the others have noted, it's not really a style that fits with your writing. Someone drawn in by that style of art would expect the story to be set in a similar era and theme. Someone looking for things along the lines of your stories would assume from the style that it's not what they want.
FlareNight
2024-10-04 03:08:52 +0000 UTCAlso, I thought of something else I could share as feedback to answer this point. When I picked up sponsorship of MILF and the Masseur, it was because, while I do like both tropes and wanted to see how you'd merge them, I was mostly interested in how you would take the short-story trite premise and run with it expanded into a full-on series of novels (I didn't know how, but my money was on his exposing a spy ring and taking it down - or maybe a shady real-estate monopoly). So, this shows I have come to expect you to write things I want to read beyond the erotic.
Toodles McGhee
2024-10-04 00:50:42 +0000 UTCI think your stories work as well as they do for a whole host of reasons, including that you're already putting out work that meets this criteria.
Trav
2024-10-04 00:24:40 +0000 UTCAh. Then maybe my final statement answers that : I think that 100% of us want to read what you write for a wider market š. You are a very good storyteller, in bed or out.
Toodles McGhee
2024-10-04 00:18:39 +0000 UTCI would tie the cover art style to the book/series, not as an author brand thing. AMA would work well as pinups, but FOF would work better as a symbolic art (like the QT artwork), OFG would likely be better with something similar to the heartstopper cover art. Just my opinion on styles, but I think they should be matched to the story not the author.
Don Alejo
2024-10-04 00:14:11 +0000 UTCI think maybe I didn't communicate the 'Can you lift out the sex?' idea as well as I could have. It's not about ACTUALLY lifting it out, it's about whether the story has a plot/point outside of just the sex. I'm not intending or being asked to actually change the stories in this way, it's more about considering whether the story is 'good enough' even if the sex isn't on the page.
BreaktheBar
2024-10-04 00:12:48 +0000 UTCFuck! My mistake, wrong story. Gerty then for this one!
Robert Giltner
2024-10-04 00:09:13 +0000 UTCWhen I have an audiobook finished, I intend to post it here for Patrons if at all possible along with selling on the Audible marketplace.
BreaktheBar
2024-10-04 00:08:32 +0000 UTCSlightly off-topic here, but I've been thinking about the possibility of your creating expurgated versions of some of your current work - and I think I'm not as optimistic as the feedback so far suggests most of "we your fans" are. There is a lot of character exposition that goes on in these scenes; you can't merely cut them, but have to actually replace them with scenes that show the same impact in the same arc. Without the shared experiences (and time!) of the characters, their closeness and insights would seem forced and artificial. I actually think that AMA would be about the worst choice to "convert", as it is such a small time period to navigate even one stranger-to-buddy relationship, let alone a half-dozen stranger/acquaintance moving to fervent love and passion: just writing "after our wink-wink 'nap', she and I had forged a lot of trust and emotional closeness" won't cut it. You do a good job of showing it in current version, but it won't suck anyone in by a mere book report summary. I do think QTNW is a good candidate, and can see how even FoF might be changed up a bit to work, but OFG is perfect mix now. I think you have to separate your markets, and write for the market you have (which will continue to grow and respond to your efforts to expand), and prepare for your future market with other from-scratch creations. I think in the end you aren't as far away from working to pay the bills while you chase your dream as you'd hoped, but at least your "day job" isn't a drag, and 100% of this market will want the stuff you write for a wider market as well.
Toodles McGhee
2024-10-04 00:08:13 +0000 UTCI do not understand what you mean by Nicolette as Nose art
BreaktheBar
2024-10-04 00:07:29 +0000 UTCHaving read what people have written here i can see their pov. Your stuff is modern, and you want to sell some if you are going to do it - bucking the trend is a hard thing to justify. But i still voted 1 - i like it, and i would be more likely to look if the cover suggested something better than the run of the mill. The standard is mostly poor within erotica and you are a much better writer than the average. Perhaps a happy medium - somewhere between the extremes of ai and cartoon pinup
Toastroast
2024-10-03 23:47:50 +0000 UTCAs another aspect for consideration - my Audible account is shared, and I can never buy your ebooks/audiobooks, because my daughter doesn't need to imagine me reading/listening to it.
Toodles McGhee
2024-10-03 23:40:32 +0000 UTCPin ups!!!! Nicolette as Nose art!!!!
Robert Giltner
2024-10-03 23:23:49 +0000 UTCI went through my Kindle history and collected the name of some authors that I thought had good cover art. Good art Bruce Sentar K. D. Robertson Randi Darren / William D. Arand - same auth, 2 pen names FortySixtyFour Keegan Connelly Good art but I donāt recommend their books Dante King JJ Bookerson Danny Rogan David Burke Mike Truk FortySixtyFour probably has the most similar road to you. I first found their story on either Literotica or StoriesOnline.net, but they stopped posting there. Later I rediscovered them on Royal Road. Now they are working with a small publisher to get their books on Kindle and have audio books made.
Milambus
2024-10-03 22:09:41 +0000 UTCThis is a tough one for me. Basically a very big 'maybe', but likely not. I don't typically buy eBooks or Audiobooks, and while it would be a tough hurdle to clear to get me to try one out, I suspect the artwork and voice talent might tempt me to give it a whirl. But it would have to be awfully darn good artwork and really hot voice talent.
Trav
2024-10-03 22:00:28 +0000 UTCI agree. I also read many books on Kindle Unlimited. The cover image will capture my attention, but its the description that gets me to read a story.
Milambus
2024-10-03 21:45:22 +0000 UTCDevin/CorruptingPower likes that he has it out, but he's not putting any real emphasis on it right now - it was more a vanity release for himself and the folks who specifically wanted it. I think he said he still sells two or three a month, and he'll eventually publish Book 2 when it's complete.
BreaktheBar
2024-10-03 21:25:03 +0000 UTCI also read lots of Erotica via Kindle Unlimited, and unfortunately I donāt think the comic pin-up style art work will attract many new readers. If you search āHarem Eroticaā in the Kindle Store and then sort by āBest Sellersā, the first book with a comic style cover doesnāt appear till page 9 (Parasexual by Misty Vixen). For the record, Iāve read literally several hundred āHaremyā e-books on Kindle and Iām always on the lookout for new authors. I focus on the customer ratings and whether the book has an interesting plot description, and not based on the cover art. If you do go the ebook route, Iād recommend enlisting your legions of fans from Patreon and Literotica to get on Amazon and enter ālotsā of strong favorable 5 star reviews as quickly as possible. Out of curiosity, what was Devin McTaggartās view on his experience publishing QT Book One? Will he publish QT Book 2? M Tefler seems to have done well publishing the first four books of his āThree Square Mealsā erotic space opera series.
Just another TSM fan
2024-10-03 21:09:04 +0000 UTCI voted #2 I do enjoy the pinup artwork , but if I were scrolling down Amazon or other ebook source I would probably think it was a comic/graphic novel and pass on by
Adain Dywyll
2024-10-03 20:58:42 +0000 UTCI read a look of ebooks and the cover really helps a lot to determine what's the focus of the story (usually). At least if it has erotica/romance or not, especially in the sci-fi/fantasy categories. And depending on the mood of the week it helps quickly narrow down what I want to look for. I rarely go for the AI generated covers for two reasons: one it looks "cheap" and it is questionable, and two in my experience those stories are quite a bit worse on average. Though it does need to fit the stories and I am not sure if pinup style would work for your stories except ama.
Kalak
2024-10-03 20:54:47 +0000 UTCI do Kindle Unlimited, so I rarely need to buy the book. But there is definitely a art style that nakes me more likely to read it. Especially for a nsfw story.
Devon P
2024-10-03 20:18:25 +0000 UTCIām thinking maybe do one of each for the same book and see which works best. I like the pinup style but the cover isnāt what gets me to buy more than one book. I read the blurb and decide if Iām interested in the story, then it all comes down to whether the author is any good.
SC
2024-10-03 20:15:56 +0000 UTCI voted 2 not because I think it would turn off readers, but just because it doesn't fit the vibe of the stories you have written so far in my opinion. If anything I think it would fit Afterparty and the already published Triple Blonde Study far better than OFG or AMA. So could it work for the right book? Sure, but the modern influencer, OF, and Uber filled stories you are producing right now are not the right fit in my opinion.
Daukash
2024-10-03 20:08:19 +0000 UTCHello, I voted #2. OFG is a modern and forward thinking story, and this style art sends the wrong vibe. Continue the good work!
JV
2024-10-03 20:03:55 +0000 UTCIn my head, i can easily picture an AMA cover that is in the banner style with the girls on the boat doing normal stuff like some kind of snapshot moment in time since there are so many ladies in the story, while the more classic small number of models would make sense for something like OFG, especially if the currently released OFG was several books with breaks between new major additions to the bedroom and have them be kind of featured on the cover due to the more intimate cast size in that story (thinking the pinup covers for the horny monster series and the anime con harem as an example of what i can picture for OFG kind of character focus on the cover) having a strong branding towards your book art will definitely make them stand out. Think about how easy it is to pick out that a fantasy novel is published by Del Ray or how many people from 20 years ago would recognize Fabio from all of the romance novels ever back in the 90s
Zaralith
2024-10-03 19:59:29 +0000 UTCJust to make sure I'm being clear, and I'll edit this into the main post too - A lot of the current 'industry standard' is AI Generated pinup models for Erotica/Romance for Men. I don't support this practice and would likely hire a graphic artist/artist to do something different, I just don't know what it would be yet.
BreaktheBar
2024-10-03 19:50:47 +0000 UTCI with Damien Dark, but it would still play better than the industry standard airbrushed model stock photos.
Addeand
2024-10-03 19:48:24 +0000 UTCI like the look of the pinup style, but I donāt really think it would be a good representation of the stories you actually write. Pinup implies a kind of shallowness, but your stories are definitely on the deeper end of things, emotionally, in the erotica space. Without putting down that style, I think your stories deserve better to truly represent what is present in the pages
Damien Dark
2024-10-03 19:43:00 +0000 UTC
